Chris Hemsworth as playboy racer James Hunt in the upcoming film Rush.

By Jaap Buitendijk/Universal Pictures.

At the Formula One race in Belgium.

from Sutton Images.

James Hunt, 1976.

from Rex USA.

Australian Mark Webber drives for Red Bull Racing.

by Lars Baron/Getty Images.

Webber in the Formula One Red Bull RB8.

from Sutton Images.

A British flag displays the name of race leader Jenson Button during the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix in September 2012.

by Tom Gandolfini/AFP/Getty Images.

Jean-Eric Vergne driving the Scuderia Toro Rosso STR7.

from Sutton Images.

Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing.

from Sutton Images.

Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

from Vladimir Rys Photography/Getty Images.

Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso of Spain makes a pit stop.

by Ker Robertson/Getty Images.

F__ormula One,__ the sexiest motor sport in the world, has grown into a $3 billion global jug­ger­naut. And yet, there’s a problem: 62 years after its founding, F1 is still a puzzle to American audiences. F1—born in the jet-set redoubts of Monaco, San Fermín, and Spa, and with a history more replete with royalty and mortal drama than any other sport (except maybe bullfighting)—hasn’t found its niche in the heartland.

This month, after a five-year hiatus from the United States, the series returns, to a purpose-built, $400 million track outside of Austin, Texas. F1’s mercurial owner, Bernie Ecclestone, is investing heavily in the sport’s return. He has decreed that there will be a Grand Prix in New Jersey in 2013.

“Will it work? It’s certainly not a given,” says the 25-year-old reigning champion, Sebastian Vettel of Germany. “This market is huge, but does America really care? I don’t know.” Like Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, Vettel represents the modern evolution of the F1 driver—he’s in prime physical shape (the punishing g-­forces drivers now endure during a race require them to be among the world’s most conditioned athletes), and he’s a savvy businessman. His background is similar to that of another driver, James Hunt, who is the subject of Ron Howard’s upcoming Formula One period piece, Rush—an odd-couple story set in the swinging 70s that captures the rivalry between Hunt, a certified playboy, and the straitlaced German Niki Lauda and that stars Chris Hemsworth as Hunt.

“I wasn’t an F1 fanatic before I made this film,” Howard says. “But you know, I wasn’t particularly a boxing fan before Cinderella Man. The fact is, F1 today is still a cool, intense, sexy environment. But back in the 70s it was a lot more dangerous. Drivers would go to their first drivers’ meeting of the year, look around the room, and know that a couple of these guys wouldn’t live through the season.”

The last fatality in F1 was Ayrton Senna, the charismatic Brazilian who died on the track during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. Even without the bloodshed of the glamorous old days, this F1 season, which began in March and traveled from Monaco and Monza to China, Abu Dhabi, and India, has been a particularly good one. There are six former world champions among the 24 racers, and in the first seven events, there were seven different winners from five different manufacturers.

Mark Webber, a sharply handsome, reed-thin Australian who races for Red Bull, thinks the high stakes and high tech are enough to grab a fan base in the U.S., where the comparatively crude instrument of nascar racing is the second-­most-watched sport on television, after the N.F.L.

“nascar is brilliantly put together, a great show. But it’s a different type of racing. Here’s what the U.S. market has to understand: F1 is a prototype sport. It’s about pushing the boundaries of technology. It’s luxury. It’s top gear, optimal lap time. The teams are so heavily invested technologically, the cost of shaving one-tenth of a second from a single lap time exceeds $100 million.”